Centurions lose for the first time this season, 34-30, on the road
By Matt Lechuga
For The Signal
A near comeback fell just short as Saugus lost a nail biter, 34-30, at Camarillo Friday night.
Down 20-7 at halftime, the Saugus offense needed something to click if it wanted to get back into the game. The piece that clicked was senior running back/linebacker Jake Viger, who took a handoff on the Centurions’ third play coming out of the half 63 yards for a touchdown to cut the score to 20-13.
Viger finished the game with 177 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
“We’re trying to grow and adapt to what they’re trying to do,” said Viger. “We were trying to set them up for an inside run then TJ (Cataldi) took off for a touchdown. That’s our game plan. We’re just trying to get into spots that they’re not expecting.”
After Camarillo (2-1) extended its lead to 28-13 on a Nathaniel Madrigal run and 2-point conversion, Saugus answered with some trickery: a 5-yard reverse handoff pass that started with Viger, who pitched the reverse back to Austin Treahy, who found a wide-open Cataldi in the end zone to make the score 28-21 going into the final quarter.
After forcing a Camarillo punt, the Centurions (2-1) turned completely to the inside run with Viger and Deohn Tuner until Cataldi kept a read option for himself for a 15-yard scoring run. A failed PAT kept Saugus from tying, however, leaving them trailing by one, 28-27.
“Our line on the run block was doing great,” said Cataldi. “I missed one throw in the end zone that maybe could have tied the game, but we have a lot of things to work on. We’ll watch the film and get better for next week against Simi.”
Another Camarillo three-and-out set up the Centurions to try to take the lead. The 10-play drive didn’t yield a touchdown, but Viger hit a 25-yard field goal to put Saugus up 30-28.
Two near turnovers, an almost interception on the sideline by cornerback AJ Goodman and a near fumble by Camarillo receiver Reese Winchester kept the Scorpions’ final drive alive until quarterback Brody Meyer hit Griffin Addison from 26 yards out for the score. A failed 2-point conversion made the final score 34-30.
“We needed to fix the things we could control,” said Saugus head coach Jason Bornn. “We did things that gave them opportunities to score and you can’t do that to a good team like this. We went back to telling them, ‘Hey, just focus on the things you can control.’”
It’ll be imperative for the Centurions to shake the loss off as they look to get back in the win column next Thursday when they host Simi Valley.
